Monday, July 25, 2016

Fairytale Vegetables, Magical Flavors

EatingWell Roasted Eggplant Dip

I am a lucky dietitian. I now have a farm truck coming to my work every Wednesday morning in addition to the cute farm co-op down the street. They are just the gentle nudge I need to increase my variety of fruits and vegetables. This week, I tried Fairytale Eggplant (see picture above). It cooked up into a delicious dip along with fresh mint from my roommate's herb garden. My only complaint is that I didn't make more of it!

It also worked out very well that today is Meatless Monday, and we got to promote it our webpage at work! I love when things work out that way.

Ingredients:

1 large head garlic

1 eggplant (1 1/4 lb), cut in half lengthwise

1 small onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1 ripe tomato, cored, sliced in half and seeded

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Set oven racks at the two lowest levels; preheat to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel as much of the papery skin from the garlic as possible and wrap loosely in foil. Bake until the garlic is soft, 30-40 minutes. Let cool slightly.

2. Meanwhile, coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place eggplant halves on the prepared baking sheet, cut-side down. Roast for 10 minutes. Add onion slices and tomato halves to the baking sheet and roast until all the vegetables are soft, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Let cool slightly.

3. Separate the garlic cloves and squeeze the soft pulp into a medium bowl. Mash with the back of a spoon, or use a garlic press, if necessary. Slip skins from the eggplant and tomatoes; coarsely chop. Finely chop the onion. Add the chopped vegetables to the garlic pulp and stir in the lemon juice, mint, oil, salt and pepper.